Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary

James and I went to the Koala Sanctuary here in Brisbane last week and it was very cool!  We really enjoyed getting to see lots of wildlife that are here in Australia “up close and personal!”  There were lots of informational shows about the different animals which made the day even more interesting!  Here’s some pictures from our visit!

This guy was at the entrance welcoming everyone in!

There was a sheep shearing demonstration and a sheepdog herding as well - very cool to see how quickly this guy could shear a sheep, and how amazing the dogs were at hearding the sheep!

cool looking chicken!

When we got into the field where the kangaroos were kept, we saw that people were feeding the kangaroos, and spoke to a woman that had some food for them - she asked if we had bought any, and when we told her no, she gave us the rest of hers!  So nice!

So neat to see them hopping around!

Our first wombat sighting!!  I must say, this guy was pretty big (3-4ft long), I sure wouldn't want to mess with him!

Emu!

The Koalas were so "chilled out!"  I didn't realize this, but the keepers were saying that the reason why they sit around so much is because there is so little energy & nutrition and a lot of water in the eucalyptus plant (which is the only thing that they eat) not because the eucalyptus has a drug in it, which is a common misconception! They also only eat the tips of the branches, so for each koala in the sanctuary they have to have about 10 pounds of eucalyptus per day available for the koalas!  The sanctuary has over 130, koalas currently, so if you start adding that up, that's a lot of eucalyptus!

Can't remember the name of this bird, but it was huge!

Possum - not the kind I've seen around the city climbing along the hydro lines!  The ones I've seen don't look nearly this cute, they usually look more like oversized rats!

Petting a Koala!

I just realized, this looks like miniature koalas are sitting on James' head!  the branches that the koalas were sitting on were so close!

This picture is from the bird of prey show - they had trained the birds to swoop to different spots and fly right in front of us!

This guy was hanging out at the lunch area!

This is my favourite picture of the koala - it shows just how relaxed they are sitting in their perches!

I love this one too, he looks like an old man watching tv on his lazy boy chair!

Black headed python - (not venomous) but so big!  We got to pet it, it felt like plastic!

This is a brown snake, it appears pretty  the second most deadly snake in the world, fairly aggressive, and also common to the Brisbane area!  Everyone I talk to says that they're mostly in long grass and outside of the city, but there have been sightings around the city, YIKES!

This one is the #1 most deadliest snake the Eastern Taipan - and is unique to Australia - but mostly inland in central Australia or the outback! 

Tazmanian Devil - I didn't realize how big these guys are!!

Fruit bats - these make a lot of screeching noises in our backyard at night.  Sooo annoying!

Can't remember the name of these - but I've seen them around in trees around the city!

Three Month Anniversary!

It's official!!  James and I have been in Australia for 3 months as of Feb. 8!  My how time flies when you're busy and you move to another country on the other side of the world!!  (and of course when you're having fun!)  So, in honour of this 3 month anniversary, I have decided to share my list of Australian lingo that differs to Canadian terminology!  I must preface the list by saying that it is by no means complete and fully exhaustive - but - these are definitely ones that I have come across quite regularly here in Brisbane (I'm sure that there are many more  to discover in the coming days!)

Tah!



Alexis

tah - thank you
shopper docket - receipt
gas bottle-propane
gumboots - rubber boots
How you going? - How's it going? or How are you?
You right -  you're alright or you're fine
Get on - get along
Well done you! - good job!
witches hats - orange traffic cones
oldies - seniors
truckies - truck driver (usually transports I think)
boaties - boat drivers
pokies - casino
bikies - bike gang
hundreds and thousands - sprinkles
supermarket- grocery store
petrol- gasoline or gas
too easy- no problem
flash - fancy
torch-flashlight
jumper-sweater
nappy-diaper
thongs-flip flops
ute-truck
biscuits-cookies
scone - biscuit
chook-chicken
esky-cooler
icy pole-Popsicle
lolly oreet - candy
mince - ground meat
prawn - shrimp - so the saying "shrimp on the barbie" is not really used that often!
tomato sauce - ketchup
morning tea - morning break or coffee break
takeaway - takeout
carpark - parking lot
petrol - gas or gasoline
windscreen - windshield
tucker - food
aluminium pronunciation aluemineeum
foliage is pronounced foelege
truckloads / heaps - lots
chemist shop - drug store
postcode - postal code
flat / unit - apartment
mozzy - mosquito
look - what I'm trying to say is
shop - store
trading hours - hours of operation
bludge - waste of time
bludger - idiot
manky - gross
ferel - disgusting

Sunset on my walk home from the grocery store - one of the benefits of walking - I wouldn't have stopped in my car to take this photo!

same sunset - different filter

Sprinkles - mentioned above in the aussie lingo!

I didn't notice the slogan for "golden gaytime" when I first noticed it!  This gave me a chuckle!

So, this picture is upside down because silly blogger program won't let me turn it!  But we celebrated Australia Day on January 26th and Woolworths sold Australia shaped burger patties to commemorate the day!!  Hilarious

All the kids wear uniforms - whether they are in public or private school.  Their uniform even goes as far as their hats and their bags and someone told me that girls are only allowed to wear one piece of small jewellery - definately a great way to put everyone on equal footing no matter what the social status of the family is!  We should adopt this in Canada!

Then the guy on the right hand side of this picture started to give me the stink eye - because maybe he thought I was taking inappropriate pictures of young boys!!

 Here's a video of how people cross the street in the city - diagonally through the intersection!!  Makes sense!

This is evidence of how humid it is here!  Mushrooms growing on the side of the road!  No big deal. :)

Funny sightings in Brizzie aka Brisbane

Kangaroo claw bottle openers? Bizarre!

If that wasn't weird, how about kangaroo claw backscratchers!  - these were for sale in a souvenir shop!

Here is some random pictures of things that I've seen that I thought people might find entertaining out and about Brisbane!

Seems like a funny name for ice cream bars, but maybe its just me?

This was the label above the popsicle section in the grocery store.  It was a funny name to me, and when I took the picture, I was giggling to myself in the grocery store! haha

A beautiful rainbow behind our apartment - the huge tree to the left is called a gumtree!

A sign I came across while waiting for the bus one day - maybe it was just me, but I thought it was hilarious!

Eating my aunt Jo Ann's cookies that she actually mailed to us from Eatonton Georgia!!  So good! Definitely a reminder of home and Christmas.  Thanks Jo Ann!!!!

Can you pick out what I found odd in this picture?  Can't see it?  The "Confectionery free checkout" sign!  My guess is that it's either for customers that can't  control themselves with confectionery delights when it comes to waiting in line in the grocery store or that its to prevent temper tantrums from kids who want their parents to buy candy??

Interesting sculpture!

Not exactly sure what kind of insect this is, looks a little like a praying mantis, but  I'm not so sure - one thing's for sure, it was BIG!  It's body alone was at least 4 inches long - that's Australia for you!

This is a Kangaroo pelt that was for sale at a souvenir shop in the city!  It was surprisingly soft!

When I first saw this, I grabbed it to see what it was, and then I realized what it was....

Aaaack!!!

Interesting brand name - fire starting logs!

Seemed a little odd to me!  Not sure why you'd go through the trouble of removing the alcohol! :)